Final answer:
Gap junctions are the units in animal cells analogous to plasmodesmata in plant cells, allowing communication between adjacent cells through ion and nutrient transport.
Step-by-step explanation:
Units responsible for connecting animal cells and analogous to plasmodesmata in plant cells are known as gap junctions. Gap junctions are channels between adjacent animal cells that facilitate the transport of ions, nutrients, and other substances, which enables these cells to communicate effectively.
Unlike plasmodesmata in plant cells that connect cytoplasm for direct cell-to-cell movement of solutes or water, gap junctions are crucial for animal cell communication and function similarly but differ structurally.